Chapter Two.
I woke shivering and sweating with fright as my guitar slid off my stomach and clattered to the floor. I sat up and grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders before lying back down.
The dream, though fading rapidly, still felt horribly real, and I began to realise that I had got myself in a jam I wasn’t sure I could get out of, at least not alone. Damn my father, and damn Valerian. I was sixteen, it was summer, and I really didn’t need the grief. I felt a pout begin to come on, and rather than go with it, I started laughing, put my hands above my head, and for the hell of it screamed. I’d read somewhere it was great for relieving stress.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
“Shit!” The exclamation from the doorway startled me, and I sat bolt upright, the blanket slipping off my shoulders. Nick was standing there, looking distinctly worried. “Sorry, Gabe, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Oddly, the sound of his voice calmed me. Thankfully, there wasn’t a clown with a shotgun standing behind him.
“You didn’t,” I stammered, trying to be nonchalant, as I shucked the blanket. Grabbing my guitar by its neck, I stood up, thinking how different Nick looked from his appearance in my dream. His black hair was still damp, and he wore light grey track suit bottoms and a dark blue hoodie. “So what brings you down to the Dungeon?” I put the guitar back on its stand, and, hands behind head, started to do some stretching exercises. Nick leant back against the wall and crossed his arms, watching me.
“Why’d you scream?” he said after a moment.
“It … erm … relieves stress.”
“Screaming?”
“No, wan….” I realised he might not appreciate my sense of humour and grinned at him sheepishly. “Yeah, primal screaming is supposed to be good for you.”
“And that was primal, was it?” He grinned back, and there was that damn attraction again, like a spark bouncing between us.
“Not as primal as it would have been if you hadn’t frightened me to death.” I got to fifty reps. Thinking about chess, and wishing I was better at planning my moves, I stopped and sat back on the futon, leaving enough room for him, then almost immediately got back up again and went to look out of the window.
“So …,” he started. “I thought we could get to know one another, and I also thought you’d like to see the lesson plan.” I turned and looked at him quizzically, then went and dragged the rowing machine into the middle of the room.
“Ah, ok.” I sat down and strapped my feet in the foot rests. “So you seriously thought I’d want to see a lesson plan on my last night of freedom?” I paused and watched gold flecks appear in his brown eyes as he smiled. He knew I was playing with him.
“Mmm … yeh.” He un-crossed his arms and pushed away from the wall. “I did, rather.” He watched me as I started to row, then walked over casually and took a look at my computer. “Nice,” he said, pressing the space bar on the keyboard. My computer started to wake from sleep mode as I leapt to my feet and pushed him out of the way, hitting the off button on the monitor. Nick fell back onto the bed, looking astonished, though I noticed his eyes never left the monitor.
“Look,” I said, getting annoyed. “I know you’re in charge while my parents are away, and I realise I have to take your lessons seriously. But they haven’t left yet, and besides which, don’t touch my computer. I hate it when people mess with my computers … and,” I added for good measure, “don’t ever bring bloody John Simpson around here.”
Nick glared at me, got off the bed and walked silently out of the room. I heard him going back upstairs as, shaking from my near escape, I sat down and turned the monitor back on. After a couple of seconds the desktop appeared, the background showing Brian grinning at the camera. I had taken it at the school sports day, and he was wearing skimpy swimming trunks. Inwardly sighing, I changed the picture to one I’d taken of my mother’s gaudy prize geraniums in the greenhouse, then made sure my personal folder was still encrypted. I was just about to shut it down and go and apologise to Nick when the computer beeped a warning. Someone was trying to access my hard drive through the WiFi network.
Six months before they became publicly available, my father had had a wireless network installed to test different protocols for security before his department gave its recommendations to various branches of government. As always, I’d feigned complete disinterest, though secretly I’d been as excited as he was. I’d also got to see his final report a week before it was due to be published. Unfortunately, the report had been leaked, and parts of it had appeared in various national and international newspapers. Though there had been an extensive enquiry, the cause of the leak had never been traced, and the consensus was it was sloppy security at the printer’s.
I had never been convinced of this, and thought it might have been my fault. I’d snuck into my father’s office when everyone had gone to bed and copied the newly finished report from my father’s computer to a miniature USB drive. Though the data on it was encrypted, I’d lost the damn thing. At the time, I wasn’t that freaked; after all, the report wasn’t sensitive, my father didn’t seem worried, and I was fourteen and on holiday - there were more interesting things to think about. Then I’d met Valerian ….
“You can’t come in,” I muttered under my breath as I stopped the intruder dead in his tracks by shutting the computer down. For good measure, I switched off the power. Don’t get me wrong; if I’d wanted to, I could have traced and dealt with the intruder without any problem. It was more that I had other things on my mind. Leaving the window to the garden open, I closed the door and went upstairs to apologise to Nick.
I found him sitting at the kitchen table, talking quietly to Apollodoros, who was ironing. She sniffed loudly with disapproval as I went to the fridge and grabbed a coke. I ignored her.
“Want one?” I said to Nick, who was chewing on his bottom lip, a habit I had myself and hated, but one I found really erotic on other guys.
“Please,” he replied noncommittally. I picked out a second can.
“Look,” I said, as I shut the fridge sat down opposite him, popped the tabs and passed him his. “I’m sorry I went off on you downstairs, and I’m sorry you’re stuck here for a month teaching a moron. But I think we need some ground rules.” He snorted, and nearly spat out his drink.
“Ground rules?”
“Yeah, ‘cause ….”
“So sorry, dear boy, but it doesn’t work that way,” he interjected sarcastically and then took another slug of his drink. “Oh, nice underwear, Gabe,” he added, looking over my shoulder. I turned around to see Apollodoros, holding up a pair of my boxers and pointing at me. She grinned sheepishly and put them down on the ironing board.
“Thanks a lot, Apollodoros,” I said, starting to get up, only to find Nick had ahold of my arm.
“Let’s get the ‘ground rules’ straight then, shall we?” Nick said, as I took the hint and sat back down. He let go of my arm, though it still tingled where he had held it.
“I’m here to see you don’t fail your exams. I’m also here to see you don’t get into any trouble while your parents are away.” He paused and took another sip. “I’ll be teaching you for six hours a day, and after that, and provided you’re back in the house at ten each ….”
“Ten! You’ve got to be kidding me. My parents let me ….”
“Don’t interrupt!” He spoke quietly enough, but his steel tone shut me up. “It’s rude to interrupt. Besides, your parents won’t be here, and though I’m only nineteen, I will be ‘in loco parentis’ and as such, what I say goes.
“Yeah, well, that can be changed. They haven’t left yet.” I was livid and wasn’t hiding it well.
“That’s true. However, I only took the job on the proviso I was in charge.”
“In charge? What are you, power mad?” We were glaring at each other across the table, and I suddenly found myself fixating on his lips, which were the colour of cherry red lollipops, almost as if he were wearing lipstick.
I forced myself away from this particular dead end when he quietly said, “Brat. John said you were a brat and I didn’t believe him.” Bloody John Simpson again. I had had enough, and stood so fast my chair would have toppled to the floor if Apollodoros hadn’t deftly caught it. I put my hands firmly on the table and leant in towards him, trying my best to be intimidating.
“I’m off. I’m not staying here to be insulted by a third rate ponce who wears lipstick.” I think I took two steps towards the door, or was it one? Anyway, that’s when all the hours of watching Kung Fu movies finally paid off as I instinctively managed to block his first punch. The second one I wasn’t so lucky with.
***
I was rudely awoken by what seemed to be a really bad and giggly marching brass band, but what was in fact my sister, trying to have a whispered conversation with Apollodoros whilst mopping my forehead with a cold wet tea towel. It wasn’t the best of news for my hammering headache.
“Oh, Apollodoros, he’s awake,” she squealed, tapping her toes excitedly.
Very few people don’t know my sister Caitlin is loud. In fact, there is nothing quiet about Caitlin at all, and I’m planning an entry to that effect in wikipedia. She used to try really hard to be normal around people she didn’t know, but finally gave it up for a bad lot when she overheard a new acquaintance describe her as ‘nuts’. Caitlin is by nature ‘in your face’ and suffers from what her doctor has labelled a mild form of Tourette’s. She makes up for it with the sweetest temperament and a stunning ability to paint, and she always, always taps her toes when she’s excited, or frightened.
“Yeah, thanks, Sis.” I gave her a half-hearted smile, and she beamed back at me, sweeping her long blonde hair behind her ears with one hand. With the other, she soaked the tea towel in a water and ice-laden bowl, before forgetting to wring it out and dumping a load of freezing water over my head.
“Aghhh! you stupid…!” I yelped, and Apollodoros, wheezing with laughter, backed out of my bedroom, closing the door behind her.
“I’m so, so sorry, Gabriel,” Caitlin interrupted, looking suitably contrite. “I seem to have come over all dizzy dits, what with meeting that gorgeous hunk of a Nick man and finding out I’m in charge, now mummy and daddy have gone away.”
“Sorry?” I was confused, and not paying the best of attention. The damn tuba player was having problems, though nothing a good kick in the groin wouldn’t sort out. Then what she had said filtered through. “Did you say they’ve gone already, and you’re in charge?”
“Mmm hmm.” She dunked the cloth again, and this time squeezed the excess water out first before gently laying it on my brow. It felt really good, and I sighed in pleasure. “When I got home last night, mummy explained the whole thing to me. Clumsy, silly old you. Fancy tripping over and banging your head! Anyway, that brave Nick brought you up to bed, and I’ve been taking care of you ever since.”
“I didn’t trip,” I grumbled, “that brave bloody Nick hit me.” I was unsure why I wasn’t more angry. After all he had hit me … though it was true I’d started it. Damn me if the image of his lips kept creeping into my head. I felt my blood rushing to embarrass me and raised my legs under the blanket to hide the problem.
“Oh, don’t be so silly, Gabriel, Nick wouldn’t hurt a fly. He carried you all the way up here, and then he tried to find out what we should do to help, but he couldn’t because you have a silly password on your computer and ....”
“He what?” If I hadn’t felt so rotten I’d have been ranting and raving and stomping around my room; as it was, Caitlin hurriedly backed away. She knew just what I was like when I got in a bait.
“Just don’t get all cross with me, G, I know how precious you are with your stuff, and I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what to do, and Nick thought we could find some answers on the health sites.”
“How about calling a doctor?” I asked, not bothering to hide my withering tone. “Or taking me to casualty? Or were you just too interested in the content of Nick’s trousers?” At least she had the decency to blush. Caitlin had been away for the last six months on a painting tour of Europe, and it suddenly dawned on me that I’d missed her. She pretended to be a dizzy blonde, when in fact she hid a highly intelligent and fun personality behind the façade.
“Look,” I continued in my best ‘little brother comforting ditzy bigger sister’ tone. “I’m sure he’s very attractive, but he is my tutor, and it is the summer vac, so surely, surely I’m allowed to hate him just a little bit? ‘sides which, Sis, you know my computers are out of bounds to everyone.”
“Sorry, G,” she smiled, and came and sat on the side of the bed. “Can I have a hug from my baby brother now, then?”
“Oh, if you must,” I groaned pathetically and wrapped my arms around her, loving every second, “but please,” I murmured seductively, “no tongues!”
“Ewww, you are a sicko, G.” And we both started giggling just as there was a knock on the door.
“Come in, Apollodoros,” we both spoke together, as the door swung open and Nick walked in, wearing black 501’s and a plain white T-shirt. Can you say ‘drool’?
“Oh,” I said, nonplussed, noticing that Caitlin had suddenly got up and gone to browse my bookcase, probably to hide the fact she was blushing. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Are you feeling better?” Nick began, and I sniffed and pointedly ignored him.
“Anything particular you were interested in, Sis? ‘cause I’m all out of slushy romance and my porn’s on-line nowadays.” Caitlin laughed
“OK, Gabe, I’m off to the kitchen if you need anything. I’ll leave you two boys alone.”
Nick’s expression at my sister’s use of ‘boys’ was priceless and I almost forgave him for hitting me. Caitlin could wrong foot most people if she wanted, and to me it was obvious that’s what she’d just intentionally done. It was also obvious she was attracted to Nick, but Nick either seemed oblivious or he wasn’t playing the game. I filed the scene for future thought as he sat down on the chair by the desk. Not near me, but next to the computer. It was beautifully done, the way he leant backwards, his elbow touching the mouse, which would have brought the monitor to life had it been on. He seemed disgruntled that nothing happened.
“What’s it with you and my computers?” I asked conversationally. I’d get to the bottom of it one way or another, and I found that the obvious approach often produced the best results.
“Pardon?” He did ’bemused’ well, too. I chewed my lip, inwardly cursing my hormones and mentally writing a scene I knew would go down a storm at Nifty. It was certainly working for me. I changed tack.
“Are you really nineteen?” It threw him, and I watched a whole raft of expressions swiftly cross his face before he reverted to bemused and stood up.
“Look, I’m really sorry about the … about …,” he sighed, “about ….”
“Hitting me?”
At least he had the decency to blush.
“Yeah, for hitting you.”
“It’s ok,” I said quietly, his smile of relief making bits of me stir restlessly under the blanket again. “And you’re right, I was being a brat, though I really need you to understand that, cousin of yours or not, I hate John Simpson and he’s not welcome here. Ever.”
“Why?” he asked, genuinely puzzled. It threw me totally, but as it wasn’t a subject I wanted to discuss, I blithely ignored it and hopped out of bed, and straight back in again. Normally I slept in a pair of old sleeping shorts … normally. I decided to kill Apollodoros, slowly, painfully and without herbs. Being bollock naked in front of Nick wasn’t top of my list of all time greatest feats, especially as I was still semi-hard -- though I had vague hopes that might well change in the near future, if the expression I saw flit across his face was anything to go by.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten the horses,” I mumbled, blushing furiously. He laughed.
“I don’t think you have much to be sorry about,” Nick replied, then realised what he’d said and spun on his heel. “I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re ready to talk,” he said, as he walked out of the door.
“Ten minutes!” I called after him, grinning. This was getting interesting, and much as I loved Caitlin, I’d always been happy to fight her for whatever it was I wanted. I slipped on an old pair of board shorts and a raggedy red T with the slogan ‘4 out of 3 people have trouble with fractions’ and sat down and booted the computer.
I much preferred the Mac operating system, but since most people had no idea that Macs were hot, I had a pc as well, with Windows. As usual, it took an age to fire up, which I spent in a fruitless hunt for clean socks. I wasn’t planning to check my emails until later, but unfortunately it was second nature. As soon as I clicked ‘Get Mail’, I knew Valerian was sending me a message. I was flooded.
Spam I dealt with regularly, binning dozens of ‘Sensational revolution in medicine! Enlarge your penis by up to 4 inches!’ or ‘Want a Rolex but can’t afford one? Rolex copies at giveaway prices!’ ‘A herbal solution to Alien abduction with 100% guaranteed results!’ and their like every day, but there were thousands of these coming in.
MSN popped up.
Valerian: “Talk now?” I switched off the voice synthesis and replied.
Seraph666: “can’t – company.” Valerian’s avatar changed to a demonic figure.
Valerian: “Liar.” I began to feel nervous
Seraph666: “???” I sent and waited, tapping my fingers on the desk. Valerian’s avatar changed again, this time to a postboy. No message, just a zipped attachment. I ran it through every virus scan in the book. All gave it a clean bill of health, and I had just clicked on ‘open’ when I heard Nick’s voice.
“Ten minutes? Huh? Mr Tardy.” He was coming up the stairs.
“Coming!” I shouted, watching in fascination as the first jpeg file in a series of four opened. It was a picture of me sitting in front of the computer, taken a couple of minutes ago. I felt sick, I felt faint, I felt the blood draining from my face as I leant forward and ripped the plug from the wall socket. This was not supposed to be happening.
Nick knocked and walked in, without waiting for a reply.
“Come on, Gabriel, time kee ….” His voice petered out and a worried expression crossed his face, as I got up, shaking. “Are you …,” he began. I flew into his arms and threw up.
The Gabriel scale of embarrassments ranges from tripping over an undone shoelace in public at a one, a wet fart in church around a six, and being caught wanking by parents at a top of the scale ten. Throwing up on Nick felt like an eleven.
I felt terrible, both from the physical fear which had made me throw up in the first place, as well as the awful state of Nick’s T-shirt … and the stench. If the situation had been reversed, I would probably have packed my bags. But Nick didn’t. He almost had to carry me to the bathroom, where he sat me down on the lavatory as I started crying - I guess I’d given up any pretence at normality by this point, and crying didn’t top an eleven anyway. Nick opened the window and proceeded to clean me up. He took my T-shirt off slowly, holding the collar open to stop vomit getting on my hair, and even through the cloth, the feather touch of his fingers was doing things to my hormones I had no control over. I was busily thanking the God of clothes designers, who had definitely saved my bacon by putting a netting liner in my shorts, when he indicated, by touching my hip, that I should stand so he could do the same with my them. Luckily, I had stopped crying by this time and mutely shook my head. He grinned, on his knees in front of me.
“Albeit briefly, I have seen it before,” he said.
I nearly laughed but it came out as a “Hic!” I leant forward as if in prayer, my elbows on my knees, my face almost hidden by steepled hands, and watched him through the cracks in my fingers.
“Not like this you haven’t,” I muttered, my queasiness fading as other thoughts took over.
I was terrified by the photograph Valerian had sent me not five minutes ago, and yet I managed to shove it all into a compartment and slam and bolt the door, because I was also well and truly horn doggedly hard.
I nearly kissed him. I wanted to so badly, my hormones were raging, teetering on the edge of control, but just as I was about to, just as I had plucked up the courage, Caitlin walked in. I could tell she wasn’t happy, though you had to know her extremely well to see the signs … other than the frantically tapping foot, that is.
Nick stood up hurriedly, and as he did I saw a bulge that certainly hadn’t been there earlier. He flushed, unsure if I’d spotted it, and, hiding the problem behind his hands, he turned to my sister.
“He threw up.” It was cute, but really lame. I’d have come up with a better line when I was twelve.
“Yes, I guessed somebody had,” Caitlin answered, staring hard at me as though I’d vomited all over Nick intentionally.
“Hmm?” Nick said.
“You can smell it from the hall.”
“Ah. Yes. I suppose you can.”
“Sorry, sis … Nick.” I thought I ought to get involved before she tapped her way to Australia. “I’m not sure if it was from the blow to the head,” I stressed it just enough for Nick to feel guilty, “or just ‘cause I haven’t had enough sleep.” They were both looking at me now. Nick flushed, whilst Caitlin appeared unsure, though luckily her foot tapping was tapering off.
“So you’re …. “
“Cleaning him up? Yes,” Nick replied.
“Want a hand?” Caitlin’s nose was wrinkled in disgust, and I appreciated the thought, even though it had an ulterior motive. Nick shrugged, and I realised he was playing a part, and playing it well.
“Nooo, thanks, I’ve got it covered.” Caitlin looked both relieved and suspicious, which was an odd combination.
“OK, I’ll be in the kitchen with Apollodoros when you’re ready for food,” she said and turned to leave. Then she turned back, looking directly at Nick, who averted his eyes from me just in time. “I thought we could go for a walk in the park before you have to start teaching baby brother mine tomorrow.”
“Erm ….”
I registered Nick’s hesitation, but I don’t think Caitlin did. “Yes, that would be nice,” he answered her with a smile.
Caitlin glowed. It was like the sun coming out from behind a thundercloud. She obviously had it bad, and I felt rather sad for her as I was almost sure Nick was gay. Though not that sad, if the truth be known. Her foot tapped a short paradiddle before she flounced out in a sort of break dancey way. I smiled to myself, then got up and went to brush my teeth, surreptitiously watching Nick in the mirror. He sat on the side of the bath, trying to be subtle, but his eyes, crinkled in a smile, watched me the whole time. Busted! He glanced over and saw me watching him, and we both went bright red, though we didn’t lose eye contact. Again I had a flood of damn hormones.
Without breaking eye contact, I spat out the mouthwash and turned around. He stood up and slowly took off his vomit-stained T-shirt. It was obvious he wasn’t wearing underwear beneath the board shorts, but that’s not what made me gasp. He was gorgeous. Lightly muscled, with a great six pack and a faint line of light brown hair stretching from his belly button to where it disappeared into the track suit. I took one step toward him and he reciprocated, and I looked, really looked, into his eyes and was lost … they were smouldering, telling me all sorts of things I couldn’t fathom and one thing I could, which was that he wanted me. I groaned as our hands interlinked and we pulled each other closer, our bodies still not touching, but wanting, needing, and teasing each other for who would be first to give in.
It was lucky that Apollodoros had asthma. We heard her coming just in time and broke apart, Nick sitting back on the side of the bath, whilst I picked up my toothbrush and grinned at her like an idiot.
“Phone,” she said peremptorily, straight faced, handing me my cell that I’d left in the kitchen.
“Thanks, Apollodoros,” I stammered, watching her eyes widen as she spotted the bulge in my shorts. She then looked hard at Nick, who blushed, and as I felt my world begin to fall apart, she turned and left, quietly closing the door behind her.
I stood stockstill in mute horror, not knowing how to act or what to say. Nick was obviously in the same boat as he continued sitting on the edge of the bath, looking blank and blinking furiously.
I have no idea how long it went on, but the silence was interrupted by a ‘squark’ from the phone I still had clutched in my hand. Without thinking, I hung up and looked at Nick, who seemed to be studying the floor tiles intently.
“Um … ah …,“ I began as Nick’s demeanour suddenly changed and he stood up, interrupting me.
“I am so sorry, Gabriel, so, so sorry.” He opened the bathroom door and strode out, leaving me with my mouth open. I could hear him moving hurriedly about in his room, opening and closing drawers.
“FUCK!” I shouted at the top of my voice, then ran to my room and changed into jeans and a fresh T-shirt, before forcing myself to be calm and tapping on the door to Nick’s room. He didn’t answer so I pushed it open anyway. He was packing.
“What are you doing?” I said, in a voice that came out much calmer than I felt. He paused, and turned to look at me, his brown eyes glistening. I watched as he pulled himself together, burying whatever emotions were closest to the surface.
“I’ve got to go,” he finally said, quietly turning back to the wardrobe and pulling his tweed jacket off its hanger.
“No. You don’t.” I stood there, unsure of what to say. I didn’t want him to go, and I guessed that was a reasonable opening gambit. “I don’t want you to go.”
He smiled sadly.
“Gabriel, I betrayed your father’s trust.”
“It’s Gabe, and no, you didn’t … and even if you had, it wouldn’t matter. I’m sixteen, nearly seventeen. I’m old enough to make my own mind up, ‘sides which, my father’s never going to know.”
“Apollodoros knows,” he said calmly, pulling his chinos out of the wardrobe and slinging them down on the bed. “Damn, I’m so sorry, Gabriel, I don’t know what came over me.”
“Well, it wasn’t me!” I said nonchalantly and giggled as Nick looked suitably horrified. “Please don’t go, Nick. Look, let’s put it all down to a sunspot, or alien bacteria in the soup.” He chuckled and sat down on the bed, idly running his fingers along the collar of his jacket. I was in my stride now and glad to see that his eyes, instead of glistening, were starting to twinkle with humour. “Or perhaps we were kidnapped by aliens and ….” His expression changed to one of confusion and then anger, as he pulled the jacket onto his lap and turned the collar over.
Micro transmitters are getting smaller and smaller, but this one was top of the line, and of a line that was certainly not available to the public.
“Kidnapped by aliens and what?” Nick picked up the conversation with barely a pause, watching me closely as he turned the collar down and replaced the jacket on the bed.
“Well, I dunno,” I replied numbly, “it’s your turn. Anyway, I rather like the alien bacteria in the soup explanation. It’s better than a fully fledged abduction.”
“Hmm … ok, bacteria in soup it is then, if anyone asks.” Nick smiled, but the smile never got near his eyes as he put his finger to his lips. I nodded my understanding, and he swiftly and thoroughly searched the clothes I was wearing, came up with nothing, and then did the same to himself.
It could have been wet dream material, but it wasn’t; it was totally aseptic, totally professional.
“It’s really stuffy in here, and I still need to go over the lesson plan. How about we sit in the garden?”
“Yeah, ok, good idea,” I said, a huge raft of questions popping into my head, though the one that sat firmly at the top of the pile was ‘who the hell was Nick?’
Chapter 1 •
Index •
Chapter 3
Seraph by Camy © 2006/2007/2008
Thanks to Kitty, for all the editorial input and tweaking.
She has made this tale much, much better than it was. Gassho.
